Employee Stabbed at Bar in Columbia's Five Points

Columbia, SC (WLTX) - Columbia police have arrested a man they say stabbed an employee at a Five Points bar.

Officers took 19-year-old Barry Hunter Hale into custody Tuesday, charging him with assault 1st degree, assault 2nd degree, and possession of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime.

Around 1:45 a.m. Tuesday, police say Hunter hid inside Sharky's bar on Harden Street after the business had closed. Investigators say Hunter then attacked two off-duty employees of the bar with a serrated knife, stabbing one of them in the lower abdominal area, and cutting the other one's clothing.

Paramedics took the injured employee to Palmetto Health Richland for treatment. That person's exact condition is unknown.